Action News Jax uncovered that the foundation was formed on August 20 and dissolved on August 27, raising questions about its true purpose and who was actually behind it.<\/p>\n
The not-for-profit was incorporated by a man named Mark Stemmermann, with the stated mission of helping small businesses improve their online presence. However, its principal address – 13770 Beach Boulevard – matched that of Mambo\u2019s Restaurant, formerly owned by Arias and now operated by his parents.<\/p>\n
Website quickly taken down<\/p>\n
The Bold City Cares Foundation<\/a> website, which described Stemmermann as a \u201cvisionary leader,\u201d was taken offline shortly after Becker first contacted Arias for comment.<\/p>\n Mark Stemmerman’s name on Bold City Cares website Mark Stemmerman’s name on the now-taken down Bold City Cares website. <\/p>\n Before it was removed, screenshots captured by Action News Jax showed sponsorship packages ranging from $500 to $2,500, aimed at small businesses seeking exposure.<\/p>\n Bold City Cares Screenshot from the now-taken down Bold City Cares website <\/p>\n It\u2019s unknown if any money was collected, how it may or may not have been used, and if forms were filed with the IRS. <\/p>\n Council members deny involvement<\/p>\n Both Carrico and Arias tell Action News Jax they had nothing to do with the filing and never authorized or consented to being named as directors of the foundation.<\/p>\n \u201cI had no knowledge of being listed as an officer for this organization and was not made aware of it until yesterday,\u201d Carrico said in a statement. \u201cSeveral months ago, I had a brief conversation with Mr. Stemmermann about his interest in starting a nonprofit, but I had no role in its formation, management, or activities, and did not authorize or consent to being included in any filing.\u201d<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n Arias distanced himself as well, but did acknowledge that he sold another business to Stemmerman. <\/p>\n \u201cStemmermann is a former employee who I sold the company [Bold City Media<\/a>] to a couple years ago,\u201d Arias said in his statement. \u201cRegarding the address listed, the only businesses that operate under that address are Mambo\u2019s and the catering company. I wasn\u2019t aware of being added to a nonprofit [Bold City Cares Foundation] or a website.\u201d<\/p>\n Arias said he currently has no financial interest in Bold City Media. <\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Stemmermann echoed the statements from both councilmen.<\/p>\n \u201cI got out over my skis on this. In my enthusiasm about starting a nonprofit, I made assumptions that I shouldn\u2019t have,\u201d Stemmermann said. \u201cI had informal conversations with community leaders and mistakenly interpreted their friendly advice as a willingness to be involved. I take full responsibility for that mistake and apologize to the council members who were listed without their knowledge or consent.\u201d<\/p>\n Council Member Matt Carlucci, a former council president, cautioned that even the appearance of impropriety can damage public confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cI would encourage my colleagues to be careful,\u201d Carlucci said. \u201cThere needs to be some explaining to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Questions about possible connections<\/p>\n Barry Ansbacher, a board-certified Attorney, reviewed the filings and said Florida\u2019s corporate registry accepts documents at \u201cface value\u201d – meaning anyone can list another person\u2019s name without consent.<\/p>\n \u201cThe confirmation documents would have been mailed to the Mambo\u2019s address,\u201d Ansbacher said.<\/p>\n Filing a fraudulent document with the State of Florida is a third-degree felony, according to the Florida Department of State.<\/p>\n Possible next steps<\/p>\n Action News Jax asked the State Attorney\u2019s Office if any criminal investigation is warranted, including a look at if any Sunshine Law violations occurred between Arias and Carrico. The SAO only acknowledged receiving the email. <\/p>\n The Jacksonville Ethics Office confirmed that elected officials are permitted to form private companies together, as long as city business is not discussed within those entities.<\/p>\n Carlucci reiterated that transparency remains critical.<\/p>\n \u201cEven the appearance of a conflict has a way of undermining public trust,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Two powerful Jacksonville City Council members are denying any involvement with a mysterious foundation that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[18610,18611,982,16012,18619,18609,18620,18618,18616,18624,18622,18607,18613,741,28,116,118,117,18608,18605,13657,634,18621,18612,18615,18614,5242,18606,18617,18623],"class_list":["post-24411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-18610","tag-770_beach_boulevard","tag-action_news","tag-arias","tag-barry_ansbacher","tag-bol_citycas_foundation","tag-bold_city_cares_foundation","tag-bolt_city_media","tag-bull_city_cares_foundation","tag-carlucci","tag-carria","tag-council_president","tag-councilman","tag-finance","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jacque","tag-kevin_kerrio","tag-krio","tag-local","tag-mambo","tag-mambos","tag-mark_stemmerman","tag-matt_carlucci","tag-president","tag-raul_arias","tag-semmerman","tag-steerman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/https:\/\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/cmg\/4LBDYSFYN5BUVFKKCMQMCRU25Q.png\")
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